


Bitter And Sweet

by afteriwake



Series: The Summer Of 100 Surprise Stories - Summer 2018 [16]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Angry John Watson, Angst and Feels, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Coffee, Comfort, Cuddling & Snuggling, Dead Mary Morstan, Drunk John, Early Mornings, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Engaged Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, Established Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper, Everyone Needs A Hug, F/M, Fist Fights, Gen, Happy Molly Hooper, John Watson Apologizes, POV Molly Hooper, Past Mary Morstan/John Watson, Poor John, Poor Sherlock, Post-Episode: s04e03 The Final Problem, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sherlock Holmes & John Watson Friendship, Sherlock Holmes/Molly Hooper Hugging, Talking, all is well, bad timing, wedding anniversaries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-15
Updated: 2019-02-15
Packaged: 2019-05-20 19:26:59
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,773
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14900553
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/afteriwake/pseuds/afteriwake
Summary: When things go well for Sherlock and Molly it reveals old hurts for John, who is still not past losing Mary. But maybe something good can come from it in the end.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Aaronlisa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aaronlisa/gifts).



> So a year ago I got a prompt from an anon at Tumblr that went " _I wish you would write a fic where... John insults Molly and Sherlock punches his sorry face. thank u_." It's not the type of thing I normally write but I decided to combine it with a lyric prompt from **Aaronlisa** ( _From the bricks of shame is built the hope - "If You Want" by Depeche Mode_ ) to give it a more hopeful ending in line with the smiles at the epilogue of "The Final Problem."

She had known it would be hard for him. She hadn’t expected...this.

The first anniversary of Mary’s death had been hard on everyone, but John had not done this before. It had been a sad, solemn day, and Sherlock had, respectfully, given his now flatmate again space and time with Rosie. He had gone to Molly’s and spent the day there, curled up in her bed with her pressed against him, just silent for the most part. That was the comfort he had needed because even then, he still felt responsible.

John had comfort in Rosie and had said that was enough, and they had believed him.

It hadn’t been, though.

The day of Mary’s death, Sherlock asked her to marry him. It was simply put, as he edged into sleep that evening, but she had said yes even if she didn’t think he could hear. After all they had been through, how could she not? She loved him. She loved him more now than she ever had before. And when she woke up in the morning there was a diamond ring on her finger and Sherlock said he would share the good news with the others unless she wanted to do it first.

Everyone took it well, except John. It was probably the timing, but the first anniversary of her death slipped by and he said nothing more than a terse congratulations and a nod when Sherlock asked if he would be in the wedding party, be his best man.

Today, months later, on John and Mary’s own anniversary, the volume of yelling threatened that agreement.

John was drunk, and belligerently so. It hadn’t been this bad since Mary’s passing, when she’d taken over the care of Rosie to make sure she was cared for, delivered John’s message to Sherlock, surreptitiously kept Sherlock informed of how he was doing, how their goddaughter was doing, and still help him with the fool drug plan. But they had survived and she had thought it all was fine.

Perhaps she’d been wrong.

“You stole my wife,” John said, his voice slurred with the drink. “You...you don’t deserve Molly. You don’t deserve happiness. You should crawl in a hole and _die_. Like Mary did.”

“John, please,” Molly said as Rosie’s wailing got louder.

“Shut your hole,” he snapped, and Molly blinked. He’d ignored her most of the night to grumble and curse at Sherlock. She had been an afterthought.

“Go. Now,” Sherlock said evenly.

“Go where? I’m here. I’m stuck here.” He gesticulated wildly. “I’m stuck with this life and it’s all _your_ fault.”

Sherlock moved to physically move John from the room but John swung wildly. Sherlock swung back out of instinct when John’s fist glanced off his cheekbone and landed solidly on his cheek.

“Enough!” Molly yelled before it became a full-blown tiff. “Stop it, both of you. John, I’ll call Greg to see if you can stay in his guest room. Rosie will stay with us until you’re sober and back to yourself.”

John huffed and moved to get his coat. “Of course. It ends the way you want it to.”

“John,” Sherlock said, and John stopped.

“What?” John said, his voice part huff, part sneer.

“I still want you as my best man.” He looked up at John. “Just not like this.”

John stayed quiet, but he went and got his coat and turned on heel to leave. The door was shut with minimal force, and Molly hoped what Sherlock had said got through as she handed Rosie off to him and went for her mobile. Maybe, hopefully, this would all blow over and they would be fine. That was what she wanted more than anything.


	2. Chapter 2

John stayed with Lestrade that evening, and once she got Rosie calmed down and ready for bed she went to ready herself for sleep. But before she could get to the room she was sharing with Sherlock, she saw he was standing by the window, his violin in his grip and the bow on the strings. But he was still and quiet.

“Penny for your thoughts?” she asked as she came up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and then pressing her cheek into her back.

“I haven’t seen him this angry since...Culverton,” he said softly, lowering the violin. “And I never wanted to hit him. Never.”

“I know,” she said comfortingly. “John has...well, he’s always had anger issues. I’ve seen it, Greg has. It’s why Greg took him in tonight. He’s going to try and talk some sense into him.”

“And you should talk sense into me?” he asked.

She shook her head slightly. “What...happened, exactly? With Culverton? I saw the bruises and it all afterward, when I was helping you with your withdrawal, but...was it all John?”

Sherlock set his violin down on the windowsill and then turned in her arms. He pulled her down with him into the seat there and when they got arranged she was curled up in his lap. “Yes. It was all John. He was still very angry about Mary’s death. It was a beating, even though he knew I was on death’s door.”

“And...you let him?”

“He needed it at the time.”

“You’re very lenient with him,” she said carefully. She didn’t want to destroy their friendship; on the contrary, she wanted to salvage it, and her friendship with John as well. “Do you still feel guilty?”

“I’ll always feel guilty, Molly. When Rosie called you mum, my heart broke just as much as John’s, just as much as yours. And I knew I had taken her away.”

“Greg said Mary chose to save you, Sherlock,” she said, hugging him tightly.

“Yes, but I goaded. I pressed. It could have all ended so differently.”

“And John could have tried to save his wife instead of watching her die!” Molly pulled away to look at him. “I know I wasn’t there but those others who were, we’ve talked. There were so many at fault if you feel the need to blame yourself. But don’t place all the blame on yourself, Sherlock.”

He pulled her close again, resting his cheek against her head. “I still want...his friendship,” he said.

“I know. I do too. But you both need to talk, plainly, about all of this. You can’t go on feeling guilty and he can’t keep foisting all the blame on you. It’s not healthy for either of you and it’s not healthy for Rosie, either. And I know if there’s anything in the world that could convince the pair of you to work it out once and for all it’s her.”

Sherlock nodded against her head and then turned his head to press a kiss in her hair. “You’re right, I know you’re right,” he murmured. “But how will we do it?”

“I’ll find a way,” she said, hugging him as tightly as she could. She would protect them both with her life if ever needed, but this was beyond stupidity. They needed to put it past them or their friendship would falter and fail and ultimately end. Now she just had to figure out what to do...


	3. Chapter 3

She was surprised to wake up in the morning to find John there, looking very sober and very sad. When he lifted his head up she could see his cheek was bruised by where Sherlock had hit him. Rosie was in her arms so she handed the girl to his father. “Cup of tea or cup of coffee?”

“Coffee, please. This hangover is a fright.”

“I imagine so,” she said. She set to work setting up the coffee. “John--”

“I need to apologize,” he said, letting his daughter play with his finger. “To you, to Sherlock. Greg and I had a long long chat. I was wrong, but more than that, you were right. I mean, not about anything I said yesterday, but...we need to work on things, Sherlock and I.”

“How did you…?” she asked as Sherlock came out.

“You do always sleep through the phone,” Sherlock said as he came behind her, pressing a kiss to her head. “John called at four in the morning, and we had a long chat.”

John nodded. “I couldn’t sleep. I mean, when everything had happened with Culverton I didn’t feel as bad as I should have. I had the excuse of still hurting. But Sherlock said you made the point that this anger isn’t good for any of us, and you’re right.”

“John and I are going to counseling, alone and together. We decided that might be the best way to deal with this, as we’re still working partners,” Sherlock said. “And we’ll have separate residences by the time we’re married. We’ll talk to Mrs. Hudson about keeping room here to run the consulting services but at night we go to separate homes.”

Molly nodded slowly. “I think that all sounds...quite amenable, actually.”

“I am happy for you both. Sherlock does deserve you, unlike what I said yesterday,” John said, turning to look up at her. “And I hope I’m still deserving of your friendship?”

“Of course you are,” Molly said, abandoning making the coffee to give John a hug, one he returned awkwardly with Rosie in his arms. “I’m glad you’re both being sensible about things. I had been worried it was the end.”

“Not when Mary wanted us to be friends,” John said. “We just have to figure out how to navigate the void in our lives without her, and be happy for what we do have.”

Molly reached over and cupped John’s cheek, a warm smile on her face. “Good. I’m hoping we can all do that. And Sherlock and I...no more big announcements on anniversaries that don’t belong to us, alright?”

“Alright,” John said before giving her another hug.

“I finished the coffee. It should be done in a bit and then we can look over the counselors Mycroft emailed me last night,” Sherlock said.

“You emailed your brother at four in the morning?” John asked.

“Six, when we were done talking. He’d already been awake for hours.” Sherlock looked at his friend. “Should I make breakfast as well, or is your stomach up to handling it, John?”

“I think the greasier the better,” John said.

“You two look over the list. We can celebrate with a full English,” Molly said, her smile still on her face as she moved into the kitchen, shooing the others out. She was happy that this had had such a good outcome, and hopefully, would only get better from here.


End file.
